


Call Your Bluff

by paperxcrowns



Series: Dick and Dami Week 2021 [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Bad Person Ra's al Ghul, Blood and Injury, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Gen, Good Older Sibling Dick Grayson, Good Younger Sibling Damian Wayne, Hurt Damian Wayne, Hurt/Comfort, Morally Gray Talia Al Ghul, Murder, and it's offscreen so, i don't have the heart to make her bad sorry :(, no editing we die like tason jodd, of minor characters it's fine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:47:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29948145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paperxcrowns/pseuds/paperxcrowns
Summary: Damian knew what breaking the rules at the League meant. He wasn't keen on finding out what it meant at Wayne Manor.prompt: "you're shaking"
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne
Series: Dick and Dami Week 2021 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199357
Comments: 7
Kudos: 164
Collections: DickAndDamiWeek2021





	Call Your Bluff

**Author's Note:**

> Dick being a good older brother means everything to me <3

Damian’s father’s family didn’t work like the League of Assassins did. Damian knew that. He hadn’t at first, but after a full year living with his father and his army of children, he’d learned how things worked. 

But there was going to be something he hadn’t accounted for. He’d make a mistake sooner or later, and he would be punished accordingly. 

It was frustrating, he thought, that his father wouldn’t explicitly tell him what was or wasn’t allowed. At the League, they’d done that, too. And whatever rule he broke, he’d get punished, even if he hadn’t known about it. It was the way Ra’s and his mother taught him. He made mistakes and learned what the punishment was for making those mistakes. 

Richard had assured him countless times that the worst he’d get if he made a mistake was being sent to his room. Damian’s father was Batman. He carried out justice in Gotham. Damian couldn’t be made to believe there were no harsh punishments. 

Damian shifted on his feet, using the darkness as a cover.

Richard was talking to the man-- the  _ murderer-- _ and trying to calm him down enough to put his gun down and surrender. Damian should make quick work of this-- shove his katana through his back, directly into his heart. Or slash an artery for a quick but more painful death. But he was better than that, Richard had said.

It was a far better cry than Batman growling “we don’t kill,” at him every time Damian killed a criminal during patrol. 

Damian was not better than killing, but he was willing to humor Richard. He was still optimistic enough to believe there was good in Damian. 

The man was begging Richard to let him go, that he didn’t mean to kill them, that it had been an accident. Pathetic excuses that Damian could see right through. From the way Nightwing’s white lenses thinned and his posture tensed, so did he. 

Damian was supposed to watch Nightwing’s back. They’d decided that Richard would deal with the murderer-- because killing that man, his wife and their twin toddlers had not been an accident-- while Damian would watch his back and stop the man from fleeing. They’d chased him before eventually cornering him in the shadows between two houses two blocks away. 

Damian hadn’t been hiding well. If he had, the man wouldn’t have bent over to set his gun down before whirling around and running towards Damian and shoving a blade into his abdomen. Damian stumbled, his free hand unconsciously reaching up to grab the hilt of the knife just as the man bolted out of sight.

Damian wobbled on his feet, trying to find his footing, ready to chase after him.

Richard grabbed him by the shoulders before he made it even two steps.

“Robin!” he snapped in a strangled voice. 

Damian’s eyes snapped over to Richard’s before he attempted to pull away from his grip. 

“He’s getting away,” he snapped. “I can catch him.”

He pulled free, but Richard only grabbed his arm and tried to calm him.

“Robin-- Damian, stop!” 

Damian froze immediately at the harsh tone. 

“Robin, you’re bleeding,” Richard said in a more subdued tone. “We’ll get you back to the Cave, okay?”

“No,” Damian snapped. “He is  _ getting away.” _

“And you’re  _ bleeding,”  _

Damian glared at Richard. “That is inconsequential. I can run and catch him despite the wound.”

He could. A simple stab wound would hurt, yes, but he wouldn’t let him slow him down. He could still fix it--

Richard huffed in frustration and tapped his comm. “Batman, Robin and I are heading back to the Cave. There’s been a murder on 1215 Milton Road and the murderer’s still on the loose.”

Damian was frozen where he stood, his hand pressing painfully into his weeping wound, the knife still wedged into his side. The dizziness could be either blood loss or the realization that this was it. This was the moment he’d been dreading. He’d let the murderer get away. Worse, he’d let himself get distracted. He was supposed to watch Batman’s back. He had been tasked with watching Nightwing’s back. He was just lucky the man had aimed for him and not Richard. 

Richard shifted and Damian flinched. The slight movement made his head spin like a carousel and he stumbled into waiting arms. 

He became aware of Richard calling his name when the world stopped spinning and when the ringing in his ears subsided. 

“--obin!” Nightwing yelled, his face inches from Damian’s. “Robin!” 

Damian grunted in reply and tried to sit up. He didn’t remember falling. He tried to swat Richard’s hand away, the other one clutching his side. The green gloves were stained red. He’d failed his one objective, he wasn’t about to make his predicament worse by passing out from  _ blood loss. _

He’d suffered worse. He’d been taught to endure worse pains, worse means of torture. Blood loss was  _ nothing. _

“I am  _ fine,”  _ Damian snapped.

“Well I’m not,” Richard said. “I’ll be fine when you’re not bleeding out on the sidewalk.”

Richard offered Damian his hand. He didn’t take it. He pushed himself up to his feet on his own, biting back groans of pain as every movement jostled the knife in his side. He was lucky it wasn’t a serrated blade. Those hurt  _ significantly  _ more.

He tried to keep a good distance between himself and Richard, but despite all of his attempts, he still wrapped an arm around him to support his limping form.

* * *

Damian would never admit that he was scared. He was  _ terrified _ and he hadn’t left his room since he and Richard had come back from patrol last night. He left the Cave as soon as Alfred finished stitching and wrapping the knife wound in his side, thankfully before Bruce had come back from fixing Damian’s mistake.

Fleeing might make his punishment worse, he knew that, but he couldn’t stand Alfred and Richard’s doting, trying to lull him into a sense of false security like Ra’s had done too many times. Damian didn’t fall for those anymore.

He’d tried getting some rest as Alfred had recommended, but that hadn’t stuck. He’d tried drawing, but the best he could do was mindless doodling, not a real sketch that required his full focus. He’d just taken to sitting on the edge of his bed with his shaking hands clasped in his lap and staring at his feet. 

No one had bothered him all night, which in itself would be odd. No one had called him for breakfast that morning, Alfred hadn’t come in to check on his bandages, and Bruce hadn’t asked him for his mission report. 

He supposed it was to be expected. 

They might take away Robin. They might just send him back to the League, and then every assassin, his mother and his grandfather would know he had failed. They could do so many things to punish him for letting his guard down and letting that man get the best of him. 

Damian  _ never _ let anyone get the best of him.

He won fights, and only lost honorably. There had been no fight, and he’d been bested by the element of surprise. 

He was startled out of his thoughts by his bedroom door opening, letting in a stream of sunlight in his dark room. 

He’d pulled the curtains back, but had kept the blinds shut. The sunlight hurt his eyes and made his aching head worse.

Richard stepped inside the room.

“Damian,” Richard said. 

Damian sat rigidly on the bed, keeping his eyes firmly glued to the carpeted floor. He didn’t look up or move. He barely dared to breathe.

“Damian, please. Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Damian exhaled shakily. “I let him escape,” he said, keeping his voice clear and even.

The bed dipped when Richard sat next to Damian. He still kept a space between them.

“He shoved a blade in your side,” Richard replied calmly. “He caught us both by surprise. It wasn’t your fault.”

Damian had gotten sloppy. At the very least, they should increase his training if he was starting to get slow. This man had broken into a home and murdered the residents, and Damian had let himself get caught by surprise. He hadn’t seen the man pull out the blade, and he hadn’t expected him spinning on his feet and driving the blade in his abdomen. If he’d chosen to run forward, he could have gotten Richard. His father could see him as unworthy of Robin.

Richard scooted closer to Damian and he almost flinched. 

“Dames,” he said softly. “You’re shaking.”

Damian scowled and curled his shaking fingers into tight fists in his lap. That didn’t stop him. Richard still slowly reached over and wrapped an arm around Damian and pulled him gently into his side. Richard rested his head on top of Damian’s and ran his hand up and down Damian’s arm. He didn’t dare relax in Richard’s hold.

“You know,” he started. “One day, you’ll believe me when I tell you that you won’t be punished for letting the bad guy get away. Until then, I’m fine with repeating it over and over.”

He was right. Damian  _ didn’t _ believe him. 

“Do you want to watch a movie with me?” he asked Damian suddenly. “It’s a horror movie and I get scared easily.”

Richard didn’t like scary movies and never got scared by them, but Damian didn’t say anything.

“There are animals in it,” Richard tried again. 

Damian unfroze. “If you want.”

“It’s if  _ you _ want,” came the retaliation. “If you don’t want to watch a movie we can play a board game like Clue.”

“A movie is perfectly fine,” Damian said stiffly. 

Richard’s smile was genuine and radiant. “Awesome. Unfortunately, since it’s a scary movie, cuddles are necessary, so I hope you don’t mind hugs.”

Damian rolled his eyes, but let Richard guide him out of his room, his hand gripping Damian’s sweatshirt.

**Author's Note:**

> [you can say hi on tumblr :)](https://blas-ph-emy.tumblr.com/)


End file.
